


Father's Day Initiative

by Batsymomma11



Series: The Details of Being A Dad [4]
Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Batfamily Feels, Bonding, Bruce Feels, Bruce Wayne is a Good Parent, DaddyBats, Father's Day, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Gen, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-11
Updated: 2018-10-11
Packaged: 2019-07-29 09:50:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,253
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16261742
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Batsymomma11/pseuds/Batsymomma11
Summary: Bruce has a hard time believing the boys just want to give him a nice Father's Day. Why? Because it's never that simple.





	Father's Day Initiative

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own DC or its characters. I do own this story.  
> Enjoy!

                “What’s all this?”

                “It’s Father’s Day, Bruce.”

                Bruce lifted a sardonic brow, his mouth thinning into a flat line. He was well aware of what day it was, but that did not explain what was going on.

                “Yes, Father, we’ve made you breakfast. And coffee.”

                Bruce blinked at his younger two, looked at the table with the spread of eggs, toast, and bacon then at the steaming cup of coffee Damian was trying to hand him, then finally allowed himself to frown. “What’s this about?”

                “Nothing,” Tim argued, “Nothing at all. Like Damian said, it’s Father’s Day. We wanted to do something nice for you this year.”

                “Did you put something in here?” Bruce asked suspiciously, as he took the coffee and peered down into the dark brew. He could only smell the sharp tang of the expensive Arabic coffee beans he liked to splurge on. And it looked innocent enough, but his boys were frequently in varying battles to see who could prank him the worst.

                And no one was safe when an all-out war was waged, especially Bruce.

                He’d had pink hair color put in his shampoo.

                Preparation-H in his toothpaste. Talc powder in his hair dryer.

                Fake spiders, worms, or any number of creepy crawlies stashed in his underwear drawer, shoes, or nightstands. Those never failed to illicit the desired reaction. He couldn’t stand them.

                There had been so many pranks in so many different ways, that Bruce had a hard time believing this Father’s Day, there wasn’t anything hiding beneath the veneer of ‘sweetness’. Tim and Damian never got along, let alone to do something like this. At least not without poisoning the eggs.

                “It’s just breakfast, B. Honest.”

                Bruce eyed the plate, took a delicate sniff of the steaming food, then sighed loudly. If he was going to be tortured, he might as well get something to eat out of the deal. Sitting heavily in his chair, Damian and Tim took their opposite places beside him and started up innocuous chatter about the coming day and their planned activities while he carefully ate his breakfast.    

                It was good. Properly salted, not overdone. The toast had extra butter like he enjoyed, and the coffee was dark. Tim must have brewed it. Still, he was wary when the boys continued in utter oblivion to his narrowed gaze, as if they were merely discussing the weather. Nothing wrong in the least about them not screaming at each other by now. 

                “Dick and Jason should be over for lunch. They said they’d like us to wait to do the pool. I told them that was no problem. What do you think Father? Would you enjoy the pool after lunch?”

                Bruce wiped his mouth with his napkin, “I haven’t been in the pool in weeks.”

                “Exactly. You could use some sun,” Tim piped in, his eyes bright and animated. Bruce scowled in return.

                “Why are you eager to get me in the pool?”

                “Because you like it. You like sunbathing and reading too. We thought that might be something nice to do with you today. Since it’s your day.”

                “I don’t understand why this is suddenly ‘my day’ when it never has been before. It’s just another day in June. The fact that the both of you are suddenly in cahoots and pretending to do nice things for me is giving me a headache.”

                Damian’s scowl now matched Bruce’s, “It’s not a trick Father. We wanted to do something nice for you. We should have sooner.”

                “Boys,” Bruce groaned, “Please don’t enact whatever evil plan you’ve got hatching on me today. I really don’t have the patience for it. Alright?”

                “Honest to God Bruce, no tricks.”

                “Fine,” if they were going to play it that way, he had no choice but to go along with it and pray to God they were being truthful,  “When are Dick and Jason getting here?”

                “Twelve.”

                “Good. That gives me time to get some work done. I’ll be in the cave if you need me.”

                Both boys stared solemnly at Bruce as he stood from the table, deposited his plate into the sink, then strode down the hall to seek out the cave.

                He managed to get a good amount of work done with absolutely no interruptions for a solid four hours. Surprisingly, no one came down. He was left suspiciously alone, and Bruce found himself slowly relaxing as he worked. Which was probably a mistake. Because they were almost certainly up to something.

                But this was—nice. It was nice not to have to worry about what they were doing for a couple of hours and simply disappear into the three open cases he had left from the night previous on his desk. He synthesized bigger samples of DNA from a cigarette butt he’d collected near a double homicide he suspected Penguin’s involvement in. He printed, filed, and then backed-up his field notes in the cloud.

                Bruce was even able to get the oil changed on the tumbler before he surfaced for air and saw that it was nearly noon. When he started up the stairs back into the manor, he was so relaxed from the work, that Bruce almost missed how Jason and Dick were standing in the hallway whispering confidentially.

                Almost.

                He stopped mid-step, strained to hear the words they were saying then jerked upright when someone cleared their throat behind him.

                Busted.

                “Father, I’m glad you came up. We were just about to take lunch outside. We could use an extra pair of hands.”

                Suspicion made him itch to lean back out and try to find out what the older two were speaking about, but with witnesses, he'd be told on and then there would be another discussion about him 'minding his own business'. Bruce was well aware of his tendency to ignore privacy and had been trying to do better. But still...Tim came bustling out of the kitchen down the hallway and yelled something rude to Dick and Jason who immediately both flipped him the bird. The discussion looked like it was over now anyways.

                “Father?”

                “Is everything alright with them?” Bruce asked quietly, gesturing at Dick and Jason who looked peeved they’d been interrupted.

                “Yes, Father. Of course.”

                “Hey B,” Dick called, striding over to tug Bruce into a half-hug, “Why aren’t you in your suit? Aren’t you gonna swim?”

                “Yes, I—” Bruce looked over at Jason and frowned, “Yes. You realize you’re all acting very strange, right?”

                Dick’s smile widened, “Just because we’ve finally decided to pull our heads out of our asses and do something nice for you, doesn’t mean we’re acting strange, does it?”

                Bruce shrugged, “It’s strange.”

                “You’ll get used to it. This is going to be a new tradition.”

                “Why?”

                Jason rolled his eyes as he strolled over to join them in his lazy predator way, “Because old man, we care. Is that too hard to understand?”

                Bruce looked at the boys, narrowed his eyes at them, then shook his head. “God help me if this is a trap…”

                Jason laughed, “Priceless.”

                “Jay,” Dick gave a mock frown, “Don’t tease B, he’ll get confused again. You know he's getting advanced in his years.”

                Bruce rolled his eyes, “Let’s just eat some lunch and swim.”

                “Excellent,” Damian agreed, disappearing into the kitchen to get more supplies. He returned with a case of coke under one arm and beer under the other. “Chips and ice?”

                “Sure, I’ll get it,” Dick said, giving Jason a little playful shove as he stepped around him to get to the kitchen. Jason and Bruce followed silently out the eastward facing side of the house towards the patio and pool area. Tim already had the umbrellas open and was straightening a few of the Adirondack chairs by the pool’s edge for use. The water looked so inviting Bruce almost jumped in, sans a bathing suit.

                Speaking of…

                “I need to change. I’ll be right back.”

                The boys all nodded at him, not even a hint of guile, and Bruce quickly disappeared to get on his swim trunks. When he returned a handful of minutes later, Alfred had joined them and was sporting his own trunks with a pair of posh aviators. He seemed totally at ease and not the least bit suspicious. It helped to undo the tension in Bruce's shoulders.

                Beneath the beat of the midday sun, they dove into the sandwiches and chips. They drank copious amounts of coke and for the elders in the group, beer. Bruce watched a rowdy match of chicken fighting from his chair with a book then joined in when cajoled rudely enough, for some straight up violent Marco Polo. They splashed, dive bombed, and sun-bathed like madmen. By the time afternoon rolled closer to evening, everyone was sun-sapped and exhausted. Nothing was left of their food and Bruce was feeling so pleased with the boys, he didn’t particularly care if there was some sort of prank or trap involved at the end of all this.

                It would have been worth it. The day had been—perfect. Warm and fun and just the right amount of noisy.

                They all moved indoors in a wave of empty cans, garbage bags, and sleepy smiles. By the time they’d gotten everything back to order and Alfred was begging off to call it an early night, Bruce was just about there himself. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d have gone to bed so damn early, but he was exhausted. He could only imagine how nice it would feel to be enveloped inside his cold clean sheets.

                “Bruce?”

                Bruce blinked over to his oldest and found Dick smiling widely at him, “Yeah?”

                “Was today good for you?”

                Bruce frowned, “What kind of a question is that? Of course, it was. I had a lovely time.” The other boys were gathering around him now, all wearing similar expressions and Bruce felt like he was missing something. Something big.

                “Boys, why did you really do this today? Be honest.”

                “Can’t we do something nice for you old man, without you getting suspicious?”

                “No.”

                “I told you this would happen.”

                “Nobody asked you, runt.”

                “Jay,” Dick chastised, rubbing a hand over his slightly sunburned face, “he has a right to know we know.”

                “Know what?” Bruce was starting to feel that niggling feeling in his gut that usually precluded something going terribly wrong. “What don’t I know?”

                “This was all Jason’s idea,” Dick had turned and was facing Bruce in a manner that was similar to when he was getting ready to do battle. It only made Bruce more on edge. “He said we don’t treat you well enough.”

                “I—” Bruce frowned, “what?”

                “Don’t look so surprised old man,” Jason was looking decidedly pink and irritated, “We’ve never done anything for Father’s Day. That’s stupid. You might be the adoptive dad to most of us, minus the Demon, but you’re still our dad. We should have done something a long time ago.”

                Bruce stared at Jason, looked between the other boys who were suddenly looking chagrined, then cleared his throat, “Oh.”     

                “Plus, we know.”

                “You know…” Bruce parroted, confusion marring his face. “Know what?”

                “You don’t have to hide from us anymore. We know about the cancer.”

                “What?” now Bruce was _very_ confused, “What are you talking about?”

                “Jesus Christ, old man, I found that goddamn file on your computer. You don’t need to keep it from us anymore. We all know. And we’ve talked about it. We’ll be there for you. And we’ll beat it.”

                “I—” for a split second, one sinful horribly selfish second, Bruce wanted to lie and say that ‘goddamn file’ Jason had seen that he shouldn’t have, was his. He wanted to soak up this sickly-sweet moment and bask in the warmth of the love and support his sons were determined to show him. But he couldn’t do that. Because that would be a grievous lie. And he was pretty damn glad that file wasn’t his. “I should tell you then that you’re wrong. Those lab results weren’t mine.”

                “But—” Jason opened his mouth to argue and Bruce lifted a hand to stop it. This had gone on long enough. Without him knowing, but still, Bruce had been careless enough to let it sit open on his screen, he had to deal with the consequences.

                “Gordon asked me to run the lab work privately. He was concerned it might have been done incorrectly and wanted an independent analysis. I confirmed that he has colon cancer.”

                “You mean,” Dick’s face had gone from shock to something very close to relief, “you don’t have cancer?”

                “No. I don’t.”

                Damian was across the room in a flash and slamming into Bruce so hard that it knocked the wind out of him. Arms were wrapped around him, too tight and desperate so he could only hang on and wheeze. But then there were more arms, Dick’s, then Tim’s then Jason’s and soon they were all wrapped around him in a tangle of limbs that made his eyes go watery and his heart stutter in his chest. It was the best Father’s Day gift he’d ever been given. It was more than he could have ever asked for. Even better than the pool and the laughter and the games.

                They couldn’t have made him feel more important to them, then if they’d all decided to scream, ‘I love you.’

                “I told you he’d be fine, Todd.”

                “Don’t ruin this Demon.”

                Bruce laughed.


End file.
